Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox has decided not move forward with production on the planned movie adaptation of the now cancelled television series. While the movie hadn't actually been green lit, production was expected to begin in March with filming taking place while Kiefer Sutherland's new show
Touch is on hiatus. The site goes on to reveal that Antoine Fuqua (
Training Day) was being looked at to direct the first in a planned trilogy of films. There's also talk that the decision to put
24: The Movie on hold may have also come down to budgetary issues, while Kiefer Sutherland is said to be upset by this latest twist in the ongoing efforts to bring Jack Bauer to the big screen. Studio insiders however are saying that they simply did not think they had enough time to shoot the picture before Sutherland would have to resume work on
Touch. The script (written by Billy Ray with a polish from Mark Bomback) is ready and now only time will tell whether the film will ever actually be made.
Here is an update courtesy of
Deadline's Mike Fleming. More can be found by clicking the link below.
Word is racing around agency circles that Kiefer Sutherland was not only unhappy about the pic’s postponement, but also what I’d heard was a $1 million offer to play Jack Bauer in a deal that was heavily backloaded to reward success. Fox wanted a budget around $30 million, while the filmmakers wanted $45 million to $60 million. Fox’s idea was always to make the film at a cost, and reward in the upside. The studio’s proposal, made a couple weeks ago, wasn’t addressed until this week, and when the crap hit the fan yesterday, the studio felt there wasn’t enough time to pull the picture off in seven weeks of prep.